Cadillac Seville / Cadillac Eldorado Forum Discussion, Total Loss Looking for opinions on 93 vs 01 eldos in Past Cadillac Vehicle Discussion; I recently had some lost distracted driver t-bone my beautiful 1983 eldorado and total it. It was a dream and ...

Total Loss Looking for opinions on 93 vs 01 eldos

I recently had some lost distracted driver t-bone my beautiful 1983 eldorado and total it. It was a dream and only had 47,000 miles on it. As sad as it is I have to get over and get a new. The insurance is giving me a very low value for the car. I think it's worth far more, but I start school in 10 days and don't have time to fight it. Anyways, I was wondering if you guys could supply any opinions or thoughts on the 2 cars I have found close by. One is a 1993 eldorado with 117,000 miles for $3,950.00 and they other is a 2001 ETC with 123,000 for 4,800.00. I've done a carfax on the 2001 and it only had 2 owners and was serviced every year at the dealership. I haven't been able to check the other one. Which one do you guys think is a general best bet to last longer just based on those facts alone. Of course, when I go to check the vehicles I will run DTC codes and do some general inspection/test drive like checking for overheating, oil leaks, checking coolant tank and radiator for any signs of copper/stop-leak usage. Is there anything else I can do a general check on? I've been checking out the forums for a few months regarding the 83 I had. I got lot's of advice reading around old posts on the ht4100. I won't know what the codes mean exactly. Unfortunately, I only have the FSM for the 83.

Go with the 01, but have a blocket test performed in your presence and have the shocks/struts inspected. Have it inspected for oil leaks at the casehalves and oil pan. All of which are really expensive

Re: Total Loss Looking for opinions on 93 vs 01 eldos

Thanks, the 2001 is 3 hours away. I'll try and see if I can find someone local there that can perform those inspections. I've personally been leaning towards the 2001 and doing more research on it than the 1993.

Re: Total Loss Looking for opinions on 93 vs 01 eldos

I've seen the block test kits. Would it be worth getting one of those and performing the check or would it definitely be better to try and find a local guy to inspect it? Yeah, the 2001 seems like it would be great. Especially with the good service history. Any test I can do myself or any signs I can look for will definitely help out. The carfax says a dealership performed Brakes checks and Drivability/performance checked about a year ago and the oil/filter changed 7 months ago. It doesn't really say much of what was serviced, but in 2008 it looks like everything was checked out including the engine, Steering/suspension checked, Cooling system checked, Body electrical system checked, Tire condition and pressure checked. It looks like that was at around 86k miles.

Re: Total Loss Looking for opinions on 93 vs 01 eldos

Originally Posted by 83eldos615

I've seen the block test kits. Would it be worth getting one of those and performing the check or would it definitely be better to try and find a local guy to inspect it? Yeah, the 2001 seems like it would be great. Especially with the good service history. Any test I can do myself or any signs I can look for will definitely help out. The carfax says a dealership performed Brakes checks and Drivability/performance checked about a year ago and the oil/filter changed 7 months ago. It doesn't really say much of what was serviced, but in 2008 it looks like everything was checked out including the engine, Steering/suspension checked, Cooling system checked, Body electrical system checked, Tire condition and pressure checked. It looks like that was at around 86k miles.

------------------------
first - lets clear something up -
carfax is one step from being totally useless -

the information carfax gets -
other than "public information" like registration and ownership -
is strictly done on a voluntary basis -

if the car had an accident -
and the bodyshop doing the work doesn't notify carfax -
carfax will have no record of the accident - and will report the car "accident free"

same with servicing the car -
if the dealer - or independent shop working on the car
doesn't report what was done to carfax -
there will be no record -

so - other than the number of owners - and dates of registrations
carfax is pretty much useless -
-------------------

that being said - when I ran a shop - we did "independent used car inspections" for $60 -
and actually included that in the yellow pages ad -

I/we would spend up to an hour looking for problems -
my attitude was "I need to find SOMETHING wrong with this car -
that's what the customer is paying for"

the "good" used car dealers that had nothing to "hide" and didn't mind -
the local jipper joints hated us -
and often refused to let the potential buyer bring it in for the inspection -
because we found "everything" - well - almost everything -

call a few independent shops near where the car is -
tell them your situation - and ask if they will do a thorough inspection -
and how much they would charge -
remember - you get what you pay for -
you aren't looking for a FREE 5 minute inspection -

Re: Total Loss Looking for opinions on 93 vs 01 eldos

'01 no discussion, but really make sure is worth the money, these cars are very expensive to maintain, not so expensive to buy. Well you had one so you know what I am talking about.
Forget about brake and tires, these are VERY small bills comparing with the bigger ones:
1. Suspension (struts ~$700 EACH!!!!!)
2. Engine HG (NOT COMMON as you hear about but VERY common in the cars for sale).
Oh yeah PULL THE CODES!

Basically you need to establish what is the reason the car is for sale. 90% of the used cars are for sale because there is a reason, how likely is to be so bored with the perfectly functional car you spent $50K 8-9 years ago to buy so you can trade it in for $1500 and spend another $50K on an new car? Also as a 2 owners car if the second owner had it for 1-2 years is about the time it got feed up on a bad deal and is passing the problems to some other sucker.

Also consider the fact that some (by that I mean MOST) parts were discontinued, so even if you have the $700 for a cat or the $400 for a filler neck pipe is not going to help you much.

I am not saying the car is bad or anything, just be very careful and don’t assume anything.
Just so you have an idea, in the next weeks I will be $10000 (yes is 4 zeros) car expensed in the last 6 months. Do you think I would sell this car? On the other hand a friend of mine just sold his ’97 STS he got 1 year ago. He spent less than $1000 in required repair (but used the cheapest stuff possible – including mixing oils of various types because $54 is too much for engine oil). These are typically the cars for sale.

Re: Total Loss Looking for opinions on 93 vs 01 eldos

Yeah, the 1993 is at a dealer and it looks like on cargurus.com they've had it for awhile and lowered the price before. However, I have still been leaning toward the 2001. The 83 was the second year for the HT4100 that always gets a bad rap for aluminum heads/cast-iron block. I was taking care of it and never had any issues. Ran better than any car I've ever had. I've just been reading caddydave2001's OP about some serious issues he was having with the suspension after recently changing it. I'll definitely have to get those inspected the right way. I can't find a list of the codes anywhere. Of course, that was the case with the 83 as well. Had to track down the FSM.

Re: Total Loss Looking for opinions on 93 vs 01 eldos

Originally Posted by 83eldos615

Yeah, the 1993 is at a dealer and it looks like on cargurus.com they've had it for awhile and lowered the price before. However, I have still been leaning toward the 2001. The 83 was the second year for the HT4100 that always gets a bad rap for aluminum heads/cast-iron block. I was taking care of it and never had any issues. Ran better than any car I've ever had. I've just been reading caddydave2001's OP about some serious issues he was having with the suspension after recently changing it. I'll definitely have to get those inspected the right way. I can't find a list of the codes anywhere. Of course, that was the case with the 83 as well. Had to track down the FSM.